NPR Generation Listen Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Preview New Music & Hang Out with WVPB at Huntington #WhyListen Party

Have you ever wondered what turns a new song into a great song? And do you want to discover an emerging West Virginia act from your neck of the woods? Then join West Virginia Public Broadcasting for a #WhyListen: First Listen Music Party on Sunday, September 3 from 6 to 8 p.m at Bahnhof WVrsthaus & Biergarten in Huntington.

The September 3 #WhyListen event will include a first listen of music near and far, including the premiere of new music from #WVmusic acts. In the past, we’ve given audiences a first listen to tunes from William Matheny, M. Ward, Mavis Staples, The Company Stores, Qiet and so many more. (Find out how you can get your music in the mix on our Facebook page.)

A #WhyListen selfie at our 2015 Huntington event.

September 3 guests can enjoy Bahnhof’s local brews and food for the night as they listen to new tunes, rate them with handy-dandy cards and have a lively music discussion with Mountain Stage host and artistic director Larry Groce, A Change of Tune and 30 Days of #WVmusic creator Joni Deutsch, Huntington producer Bud Carroll and Hello June rocker Sarah Rudy.

The event marks West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s seventh project with NPR Generation Listen, an initiative to bring young, intellectually curious minds into the public broadcasting community. In fact, the very first #WhyListen event took place back in 2015 in Huntington and received rave reviews from Dave Lavender at The Herald-Dispatch and Marshall University’s The Parthenon.

The September 3 #WhyListen event is free and open to the public! For more information on the listening party (and the full Huntington Music & Art Festival schedule), visit the Facebook event.

And if you’re a local artist with a demo or brand new tune for our listening party, hit us up! Comment on our post on Facebook.com/achangeoftune, and we might just include their new song at our September 3 listening party.

Encourage Dialogue

Civic Engagement & The Power of Listening

Next week, we elect the 45th President of the United States. In this particularly divisive and emotionally charged election season, listening to one another is as important as ever.

Engage your students in meaningful conversations around this election, StoryCorps is here to help.

We have created a list of Great Questions focused on civic engagement and the election. These are available in the StoryCorps App and at StoryCorps.org, and the list includes questions like:

What advice would you give to a first-time voter?

How do you feel affected by this election?

What elections stand out in your mind, and why?

What does civic participation mean to you?

So, What'd You Think of Our #WhyListen First Listen Music Party?

If you’re reading this right now, chances are you made it out to last Sunday’s #WhyListen First Listen Music Party at Shepherdstown’s Town Run Brewing with MiBurg. If you did, we have a new music playlist waiting for you.

But first things first: Thanks for coming out and talking music with me, Mountain Stage‘s Larry Groce and Rozwell Kid‘s Jordan Hudkins! Your support makes cool #wvpublic events like this happen.

If you walked away with a new favorite song and want to see more of these #WhyListen events around the state, become a member of West Virginia Public Broadcasting. A gift of $10 or more helps us keep these events free and helps promote new #WVmusic from acts like Christian Lopez, Carolyn Malachi, Tim Browning & the Widowmakers, and more.

Either way, we want to hear from you. What did we absolutely nail at Sunday’s #WhyListen? What could we have done better? Click here to give us your feedback.

While you’re giving us that feedback, kick back with our Shepherdstown #WhyListen new music playlist, including a handy-dandy Spotify playlist with most of the night’s music (where available). Happy listening!

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1. The Avett Brothers– Ain’t No Man

2. Gordi– Nothing’s As it Seems

3. The Paranoid Style– The Ambassador’s Moring Lift

4. Barry Adamson– Up in the Air

5. Drive-By Truckers– Surrender Under Protest

6. of Montreal– It’s Different for Girls

7. Venus and the Moon– Marry Me

8. Dinosaur Jr.– Tiny

9. Gringo Star– Get Closer

10. Jake Bugg– Love, Hope and Misery

11. Angel Olsen– Shut Up Kiss Me

12. Foy Vance– She Burns (Psst… catch Foy Vance in West Virginia on October 16!)

13. Field Mouse– Never Would Have Known

14. Carolyn Malachi– Blowing Smoke

15. Oh Pep!– The Race (Psst… catch Oh Pep! in West Virginia on October 16!)

16. Chris Staples– Dog Blowing a Clarinet

17. Bishops– Hookup (Demo)

18. Rodrigo Amarante– Tuyo

19. St. Paul & the Broken Bones– Flow with It (You Got Me Feeling Like)

20. Christian Lopez– Swim the River (Demo)

21. Tim Browning & the Widowmakers– Gasoline

Preview New Music & Hang Out with WVPB at Shepherdstown #WhyListen Party

Have you ever wondered what makes a new song into a good song? Or why West Virginia music sounds so different from the rest? Then join West Virginia Public Broadcasting for a #WhyListen: First Listen Music Party on Sunday, August 28 from 4 to 6 p.m at Town Run Brewing Company in Shepherdstown.

“Virginia may be for lovers, but West Virginia is most certainly for music lovers,” says West Virginia Public Broadcasting music host and #WhyListen event coordinator Joni Deutsch. “After successful music listening parties in Charleston, Huntington, and Fayetteville, we’re so excited to bring this #WhyListen event to Shepherdstown and help folks discover their next favorite tune.”

The August 28 #WhyListen event will include a first listen of music from West Virginia and beyond, including the premiere of new music from regional acts Tim Browning, Carolyn Malachi, Bishops, The 29ers, and Christian Lopez Band. Guests will enjoy Town Run Brewing’s local brews and food for the night as they “talk tunes” with Mountain Stage host and artistic director Larry Groce, West Virginia Public Broadcasting host Joni Deutsch, and Rozwell Kid frontman (and Martinsburg native) Jordan Hudkins.

The event marks West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s sixth project with NPR Generation Listen, an initiative to bring young, intellectually curious minds into the public broadcasting community. This event also marks the station’s first collaboration with Town Run Brewing and MiBurg, a media collective that seeks to cultivate community in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

“We pounced on the chance to help bring #WhyListen to the Eastern Panhandle,” says MiBurg team leader April King. “The future of West Virginia depends on retaining younger people, and we support any initiative that attracts and engages audiences by promoting West Virginia’s unique culture.”

The August 28 #WhyListen event is free and open to the public, but space is limited. For more information on the event and to reserve a seat, visit whylistenwv.splashthat.com.

So, What'd You Think of Our #WhyListen First Listen Music Party?

If you’re reading this right now, chances are you made it out to last Thursday’s #WhyListen First Listen Music Party at The Grove @ Secret Sandwich Society. If you did, we have a new music playlist waiting for you.

But first things first: Thanks so much for coming out and talking music with me, Mountain Stage‘s Larry Groce and Fayetteville’s Andrew Adkins! Your support makes cool #wvpublic events like this happen.

If you walked away with a new favorite song and want to see more of these #WhyListen events around the state, become a member of West Virginia Public Broadcasting during our Spring Friend-Raising campaign. A gift of $10 or more helps us keep these events free and helps promote new #WVmusic from bands like The Parachute Brigade, The Kind Thieves and more. If you become a member by 9pm Monday, April 11, you’ll even be entered in a drawing for a $500 Amazon Gift Card. (That’s a lot of new music!)

And considering we’re still in the infant stages of our NPR Generation Listen collaboration, we want to hear from you about how Thursday’s shindig went. What did we absolutely nail? What could we have done better? Click here to give us your feedback.

Now, on to music: here is last week’s #WhyListen new music playlist, including a handy-dandy Spotify playlist with most of the night’s music (where available). Happy listening!

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1. Lake Street Dive- “Side Pony”

2. Aurora- “Conquerer”

3. Bombino- “Timidiwa (Friendship)”

4. Andrew Bird- “Capsized”

5. Margo Price- “Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)”

6. The Company Stores- “So Good”

7. Violent Femmes- “Memory”

8. Charles Bradley- “Things You Do for Love”

9. My Bubba- “Big Bad Good”

10. The Parachute Brigade- “Till I See Stars”

11. Mitski- “Your Best American Girl”

12. Anderson .Paak- “The Bird”

13. Cha Wa- “Ooh Na Nay”

14. Matt Mullins- “Charlie”

15. Black Mountain- “Cemetery Breeding”

16. Mark Cline Bates- “Am I Getting Warmer Now”

17. Frankie Cosmos- “Young”

18. Radical Face- “The Ship in the Port”

19. The Kind Thieves- “Roanoke Shallow Grave”

20. Tacocat- “Talk”

21. Hayes Carll- “The Love That We Need”

22. Larry Groce- “Live Forever”

Preview New Music & Hang Out with WVPB at Fayetteville's #WhyListen Party

Have you ever wondered what makes a new song into a good song? Or why we like the songs we like? West Virginia Public Broadcasting invites you to the #WhyListen: First Listen Music Party on Thursday, April 7 from 6 to 8 p.m at The Grove at Secret Sandwich Society in Fayetteville.

“The response to our last #WhyListen parties in Huntington and Charleston were phenomenal,” says West Virginia Public Broadcasting host and #WhyListen event coordinator Joni Deutsch. “Getting young folks in the same room to listen to new, local tunes and have an open music discussion is a special thing to witness. We can’t wait to bring the party to the New River Gorge this April.”

The #WhyListen event will include a first listen of music from West Virginia and beyond, including the premiere of new music from regional acts The Company Stores, The Parachute Brigade, Mark Cline Bates and The Kind Thieves. Guests will enjoy Secret Sandwich Society’s local brews and beverages for the night as they “talk tunes” with Mountain Stage host and artistic director Larry Groce, West Virginia Public Broadcasting host Joni Deutsch and Fayetteville singer-songwriter Andrew Adkins.

The event marks West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s fourth project with NPR Generation Listen, an initiative to bring young, intellectually curious minds into the public broadcasting community. This event marks the station’s first collaboration with Secret Sandwich Society and Generation New River Gorge.

Enjoy West Virginia-made beverages and get to know #WVmusic fans at April 7’s #WhyListen.

“We are happy and excited to host this forward-thinking event,” said Secret Sandwich Society owner Lewis Rhinehart. “Attracting and retaining a younger population is just what the doctor ordered for our great state.”

“Events like #WhyListen are exactly what our communities need to remain inviting and innovative,” added Generation New River Gorge President Angela Sundstrom. “Young professionals are especially attracted to such gatherings, so we hope to see these events flourish throughout the New River Gorge region, as well as the entire state.”

The April 7 #WhyListen event is free and open to the public, but space is limited. For more information on the #WhyListen first listen music party and to reserve a seat, visit whylistenfwv.splashthat.com.

About West Virginia Public Broadcasting: West Virginia Public Broadcasting tells West Virginia’s story through high-quality programming and services including radio, television, Mountain Stage®, wvpublic.org, WV LearningMedia and Ready To Learn®. West Virginia Public Broadcasting is a trusted resource for education, news, emergency services and community development.